FreeDem Statement on the King

[Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir]

Time and again, the Talossan National Congress refuse to engage on the subject of monarchy reform. Those "reforms" they do espouse – such as allowing the King to choose his own successor – are diametrically opposed to the views of the Free Democrats of Talossa. When they are not a return to the old status quo, they suggest an even worse position.
Moreover, the close affiliation between the King and the TNC – whose leader he named as his stand-in during the entire Cosa term he abandoned his Kingdom – raises questions about the King's political impartiality, which is central to maintaining trust in our current Constitutional Monarchy. Add to this the King's use of his legislative veto to defend his own power and position (or even worse, based on personal preference), and – probably worse of all – his simple absence from Talossa for months at a time, popping in only rarely to grant us his presence.

If, on the other hand, the King does miraculously become more active if the TNC take over governance, that will just be a further sign to us of his political partiality and thus his disqualification from being a Constitutional Monarch. It is clear that further progress is not going to be possible whilst King John rules the roost.
So, the King must abdicate or resign, as he has constantly demonstrated he has little or no interest in the role. If he will not do so, he must be removed by the lawful method of Organic Law amendment.

As to how to choose a new Monarch, this is a question on which we welcome public debate. However – given his obvious political partiality – it seems clear that the King must not be simply entitled to choose his own successor. When he chose a Regent a few years ago, he chose the person most guaranteed to outrage reformist and republican opinion. It seems a pretty good bet he'd do something similar with regard to his successor – maybe even the exact same thing.


With the Free Democrats position on this now made clear, I would ask the TNC: how can you continue to support a monarch who does not support or engage with his country?
And further to this, given the clear conflicts of interest that will arise if the TNC do gain power, how would the TNC's defence of the absent King not be seen as anything but political pandering? A "vicious circle" of political corruption seems clear: the TNC defends the King, so the King favours the TNC.


The Free Democrats' answer is that the King has demonstrated he is not fit to be monarch and must either step down or be removed, for the sake of future political stability in Talossa. There is no way forward with John continuing as King. And the TNC need to answer why they continue to prop up someone who's job is to help heal divides in political dives, yet due to his actions, has just caused those divides to become chasms that he cannot close.


The King MUST GO!

Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir,
And the Leadership of the Free Democrats of Talossa

(Reposting here to allow the TNC leadership to respond)

[Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir]

Also, an added note is that is current party policy to have an open debate on all aspects of what takes place on removal of the King, which was a position we came to after this was initially released. Which is why it isn't reflected above.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The FDT has been in office for a very long time.  They've held power for five years straight, and they're exhausted.  In 2017, when they started their streak in governance, their platform had seventeen ideas.  In 2019, they had twelve ideas.  By the time we reached the last election, they had four ideas.  Now it's been five years, and they're tired, and they only have one idea.

Their criticism is simply mistaken.  I mean, one of their complaints is that the TNC leader was chosen as the regent.  They don't have any complaints about how the regent performed, just vague suggestions of partisanship. Yet I was the one chosen as regent, not TNC leader Breneir -- and I wasn't a member of the then-inactive TNC at the time!  Whoops!

Similarly, they're unhappy that the king doesn't engage enough.  Okay: in the last five months, His Majesty has posted only 17 times.  That's not great, and I wish he would be more active.  I'm glad when I see him engaging on Witt and discussing stuff, and it's great when he works off of Witt with the Seneschal or the Sabor to get things done, but he should be doing more.  Still, the leader of the FDT, Antaglha Somelieir, has posted only 20 times.  And I don't think anyone should be demanding that Antaglha hang her head in shame for inactivity.

Let's face the facts: the Free Democrats would like to remove the king because they would like another try at a Republic of Talossa, despite the fact the people really just don't want that.  They opposed any TNC proposal before it was even announced.  They don't want solutions.  They're content to reign over the ashes.

Maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe they have their own candidate that they want to install as king or queen, I don't know.  But I do know that they're spoiling for negative campaigning and drawn-out arguments, since they don't have anything else to campaign on going into a sixth year in office.  C'e oviös!

Sorry, I just don't think the TNC is interested in negative campaigning.  We're bringing a positive message, new ideas, and new energy to Talossa.  We're working on solutions to improve Talossa, not endless chaos and the Same Old Fight.  Maybe Breneir or xpb or someone will feel differently, but I'm just going to keep presenting ideas and boosting them, and I hope that the people will feel like it's time for a change after so many years.

The TNC thinks it's time to start publishing important statistics about our country somewhere that people can easily find them and analyze them, since the citizens of Talossa deserve to know how Talossa is doing.

We think it's time to start using our language regularly.  Las aziuns parlent pü inaltmint q'els mocts: government announcements and templates should incorporate the language where possible, and we should try to use some phrases here and there to increase exposure.

We think it's time to create a list of useful skills that our citizens have via the census, voluntarily, to create a Citizen Service Corps -- not as part of some giant new technical thing that you needs its own login or access, but just a list somewhere -- so that people can collaborate on stuff and invite others to participate in things in which they're interested.

And much more.

We think it's time for a change after five years of FDT leadership.  Vote TNC and let's do it!  Qe noi en façadrent!